Stringed-musical-instrument key.



tinran STATES PATENT OFF JAMES T. STANDINGLOF ST. LOUIS, nls'souat.

STBINGED-MUSICAL-INSTRU'MIENT KEY.

To all whom it may concernr Be it @own that I, J AMES T. STANDING, a citizen of the United States, and resident of St. Louis. Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stringed- Musical-Instrument Keys, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a art hereof.

ily'invention relates to a stringed musical instrument-key, and the object of my invention is to provide a device whereby old or broken strings may be easily and quickly removed fm'm the winding pins.

The device may be used on any stringed instrument, although I have shown it applied to a guitar. 1 My invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully set forth. pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a guitar neck and its head, with part of the neck broken away; Fig. '2 is a top plan view of a portion of a guitar neck and its head; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4

is a section taken on. the line 44 of Fig. 1,

and Fig. 5 is a detailed perspective of a portion of the device which I employ in carrying out my invention.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates the neck of a guitar of ordinary construction, and 2 the head thereof. The head is provided with the usual transverse holes or openings for the pins for the strings, and secured to the sides of the head are plates 3 and 4. These plates are secured to the head in any suitable manner, and are provided with suitable holes or openings which answer as bearings for the pins on which the strings are wound. In the illustration 1 have shown a head provided with six keys, three on each side of the head, but as of the keys are substantially alike and einbeaiy the same principle of construction, I will proceed to describe only one key ,50 and its attendant parts.

5 indicates pins on which the strings 6 are wound, and secured to the pins 5 are hooks 7, which provide a means for securing the strings to the pins. The inner ends of the pins 5 are suitably journaled in the part .8 of

the head :3, the outer ends being provided Specification of Letters Patent.

- i Application filed October 19, 1907. Serial No. 398,270.

with reduced portions 9' which are journaled in the plates Eand 4.

Mounted on the reduced portions 9 are pinions 10. which are held on said pins 5'by means of thumb nuts 11. It will be seen inthis connection that the pinions 10 are so mounted as not to rotate on the pins 5.

Adjacent the pinions 10 are cars 12, which provide bearings for the keys which operate the pins .5. The ears 12 are provided with circular bearing openings 13. A 14 indicates a yoke, provided with a recess 15, and with trunnions 16, which are adapted to it in the openings 13. Eccentrically formed in these trunnions are openings 17 in which are located bearings 18 of the worm gear 19, which latter meshes with the pinions 10. The worm gear 19 is provided with a key shaft '20, on the free end of which is mounted the key head 21. By operating the worms 19. the pins 5 are rotated, and tension is applied to the strings of the instrument.

By. shifting the yoke 14 forward and backward, the worms 19 may be thrown into and out of gear with the pin-ions 10. In Fig. 2, all the worms 19 are shown in gear with the pinions 10, except one. This arrangement for throwing the worms out of gear with the pinions permits the pins 15 to be freely and rapidly rotated by pulling on the string when the same is to be removed.

Heretofore, in order to remove a stri 1g, it has been necessary to operate the pin 5 by means of the worm gear, which operation is slow and tedious.

I claimr- 1. The combination with a musical instrument, of a-winding pin, a pinion arranged on said pin, ears arranged on the musicalinstrument adjacent the winding pin, journals arranged for rotation in the cars; a winding key eccentrically mounted for rotation in the ournals, a worm arranged on the winding key and adapted to mesh with the pinion on the winding pin, and means whereby the journals are shifted so as to move the worm mto and out of engagement with the pinion.

2. A stringed musical instrument key, comprising a winding pin, journals arranged for rotation ad'acent the end of the winding pin, a winding key eccentrically arranged for rotation in the rotating journals, means whereby the journals are rotated so as to move the winding key to and from the winding pin, and a driving connection between the winding pin and key.

:3. A stringed musical instrument keyfl comprising a winding pin, a pinion on the outer end thereof, a winding key arranged at l the end of the winding pin, a worm on the winding key adapted to enga'ge'with the inionjand bearings supporting the winding 'ey at both ends of the Worm, and which bearings are movable to move the winding key and worm to and from the winding pin.

4. A stringed musical instrument key, comprising a winding pin, a pinion fixed on one end thereof, a pair of bearings arranged adjacent the pinion, a winding key eccen- 2 .w i Ii 7 9 5 210 M. P. SMITH, E. L. VVALLACE. 

